Comments on: Is A Double-Header Always Twice As Good?

By: flatintoone@gmail.com

flatintoone@gmail.com — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 14:39:21 +0000

Maybe we should just go ahead and file Twin races under “Ideas that sound great on paper, but don’t really work out in real life.”

It was a great idea and I don’t begrudge Bernard at all for trying it, but Texas displayed all the problems of these situations. Running on separate days sounds like one way of solving these problems, but maybe they’re better off not being solved.

You run into a situation where either a track holds exciting races, and you ruin that by running a twin race -OR- a track with less-than-exciting racing has a “twin” race, and you force fans to watch two boring races.

By: Ron Ford

Ron Ford — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:50:15 +0000

Since the Iowa race was so awesome (no sarcasm), why don’t we just run all the oval races there and skip those other troublesome tracks like Milwaukee (sarcasm)?

By: NaBUru38

NaBUru38 — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:59:39 +0000

I’d do the Sunday afternoon race clockwise. 180 laps each (to emphasize the U-turn), and full points.

By: Yannick

Yannick — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 21:39:57 +0000

Having not slept well at all that night, I was able to see parts of the 1st and the 2nd race from Texas 2011 on a webstream even here in Europe. Drivers were indeed preserving their cars for the 2nd race. But for some, it all came to naught in the draw for the starting positions of the 2nd race. That draw for the grid of the 2nd race was not a good idea. It’s too random. DTM, the series in which Dario Franchitti raced touring cars before he went to the USA, used to run every race as a double header for the duration of several seasons. Nobody’s focus was on preserving their cars, but those were touring cars. They are more robust than single seaters. However, the grid positions of the 2nd race were determined by the finish of the 1st race with the retirements having to start from the back in order of retiring.
I guess that’s how it should be done.

Yet, I would prefer a 2nd 500 mile race on one of the larger ovals over a double-header. As far as Iowa is concerned, I like George’s idea of going there twice a year. As far as Texas is concerned: last year’s single race was a better one than the double header. I feel they should switch back to the old format.

And Milwaukee needs to get back its place on the calendar the week after Indy.

If IndyCar is looking for an oval, I’d love to see them at Eurospeedway Lausitz but that’s mainly because it’s the one oval track that’s nearest from my home. As far as European tracks are concerned: A return to Brands Hatch would also be very nice, especially for the English fans of all the English drivers in the series. And if I could recommend one other track in Europe for IndyCar, it would be Dijon Prenois because of the multiple racing lines that are possible when driving around that circuit.

As far as Chicagoland vs Milwaukee vs Road America vs Brooklyn Michigan is concerned, as a TV Indycar spectator, I’d prefer to have all of them on the calendar, but as it is not possible, my preference would be Milwaukee. However, I watched last year’s Chicagoland race and it was pretty exciting.

All the talk I read about IndyCar going to China worries me a little since DTM and A1GP drew only little crowds there and had to face problems with bad organisation like a hairpin corner being too tight for the cars to go round. If IndyCar wants to go abroad, I’m pretty sure Surfers Paradise will welcome them back. And all the Power fans, Briscoe fans and Dixon fans would love it, too.

The thought of the Nashville oval surely is interesting.

By: Bent Wickerbill

Bent Wickerbill — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 11:00:55 +0000

The right promoter (Milwaukee) and modifications to the track (diamond grinding) that would allow more than one line of racing (like back in the 80′s and 90′s.)

Regarding Iowa, I also agree that there is no need for two races in the same weekend, but that if two races at Iowa in one season could be arranged, that would be the way to go.

By: Gurney Eagle

Gurney Eagle — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:05:09 +0000

“Fans pay their good money to watch drivers hang it out on the ragged edge. They don’t expect to watch a parade of cars driven by drivers whose main goal is to keep the car off the wall so it’ll be around the next day.”

This is an accurate description of the first Texas race which is why i’m strongly opposed to this idea.

By: SkipinSC

SkipinSC — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:08:14 +0000

What I would much rather see from Iowa would be two RACES. Perhaps a midsummer race at night and a later race (in the daytime) in fall. The fact that there is a venue that fans will fill would seem to make this a no-brainer to me.

I agree with George’s point that two races in one weekend (sold separately) might be overkill.

By: delta3

delta3 — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:25:20 +0000

Sorry …I don’t mean “you”; I mean “they” …” can start…”.

By: delta3

delta3 — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:21:55 +0000

Savage, upon reflection I think I’m with you on this issue. Get creative with events that are struggling, like Milwaukee (there you can start by finding a promoter that knows the business).

By: Savage Henry

Savage Henry — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 12:29:03 +0000

I thought that the rule in the entertainment business is that you always want to leave them wanting more. Doing back-to-back races at Iowa would break that rule. Doing a double-header would cheapen it, I think. Anyone who chose to do two races one year (and I’m not sure there would be that many) may choose to do no races the next year, especially if the first one was a snoozer because of teams trying not to wad up their equipment.

I think that you keep your great events great by making people want to come back year-after-year. That’s why they don’t do a second event at Indy. Auto races need to have that event-like feel to them, they’re not like football games or baseball games. Overusing the successful events seems like risking killing the golden goose, if you ask me.

Instead, they should get creative and find ways to improve existing events or create exciting new events.